


I won't leave you

by EyesOfHorus82



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Din Djarin Whump, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Healing, Help, Hurt Din Djarin, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Pain, Protectiveness, The Mandalorian (TV) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27149149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EyesOfHorus82/pseuds/EyesOfHorus82
Summary: My take on what could have happened on S1 Ep8. I can sense a lot of fluff later on ;-)
Relationships: Din Djarin & Cara Dune
Comments: 27
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

She couldn’t just leave him here, she just couldn’t. “I won’t leave you…” she repeated but Din insisted on being left behind. Even when IG-11 said, it would stay with him, the mandalorian refused. “Take the child and leave! IG it’s your purpose to protect the child, so do your job. And protect Cara as well, she will be the one responsible for the child now!” Din hissed, anger filling his pained gasps. 

More and more blood soaked his cape and Cara knew, he wouldn’t make it much longer. “Din, no… this isn’t the way, we can’t leave you.” she whispered desperately and knelt down beside him. Suddenly a large debris from the burning ceiling crashed down beside them. “Go, your time is running!” Din yelled and drew his blaster, aiming at his friends. “Din, don’t do this.” Cara said and slowly rose from the ground, her hands raised in defeat. “Go…” Din gasped and aimed directly at her. She knew, she had no choice now. The fire started to spread more and more. 

Suddenly, they noticed three more Storm Troppers at the entrance, probably checking if they were still in there. Now the group started to run and they had no choice but to leave the injured mandalorian behind. When all of them had squeezed through the narrow hole in the wall, they heard blaster fire. “Go, go, they are coming!” Karga screamed and pulled Cara with them. IG-11 was hot on their heels with the baby in his bag. Sadly the little one looked back, feeling that he would never see his protector again.

Din felt horrible, not only his whole body was a mess, but his heart broke, when he told his friends to leave him. He knew it was his death sentence, but it was the right choice. He’d die a warrior's death, the most honorable way to die in the mandalorian’s culture. Smoke filled his lungs and he started to have trouble breathing. He heard another blaster shot, which was deflected from his shoulder pauldron. With his last strength he pushed himself up on the concrete debris he was leaning on. Dizziness swept over him when he got to his feet. Din felt another impact of a shot directly on his beskar chest plate, which almost threw him off his feet again. But he managed to grab hold on the wall. 

With shaky hands, he aimed at the Troopers and shot one down. The other two took cover as they realized, Mando wasn’t dead yet. Din took cover as well and crouched behind one of the debris. He closely observed the Troopers, which were looking for him. Too bad for them, they stood under a large burning piece of ceiling, which was almost falling off. The mandalorian took his chance and fired at it, causing it to crash down on the two soldiers, letting them burn alive. Now he was alone again. Exhausted he leaned back on the wall again, trying to breathe through the smoke, which tightened his lungs more and more. His head wound leaked more and more blood on his right shoulder.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang and more debris started crashing down. One of them directly on him. Din tried to roll on his side but it grazed his right side and part of his back. The fire almost instantly burned through his flight suit, leaving him screaming in agony. In panic, he tried to put it out with his hands and succeeded after a few more seconds. The smell of burned skin suddenly surrounded him and his torso hurt like never before. Din didn’t dare to even touch the wound, he just tried to crawl away from the fire. He leaned back on the wall again, now feeling his consciousness was fading fast. The weight on his chest became heavier and made it almost impossible for him to breathe. 

Under his helmet, tears were streaming down his face. He knew, he did the right thing and he saved his friends from the Troopers. They had a better chance to escape now, Din just hoped the Armorer would help them. He gave Cara his necklace with the mythosaur pendant. He told her to show them. They would be alright, he was sure about that. With a sad smile, he closed his eyes, waiting for death to claim him. More and more debris was crashing around him and the fire was almost consuming him. 

Suddenly he noticed something moving towards him. Din’s vision was too blurred to see, but something pulled him up on his arm, eliciting an agonized scream of pain from him. “I won’t let you die here…” he heard a voice yelling at him. The last thing he realized was he was being dragged towards the small exit hole and as soon he passed through, his consciousness faded into darkness….

Cara couldn’t accept to leave him behind, he was her only friend. The group was hurrying through the sewers but suddenly the soldier stopped. “Something’s wrong, Cara?” Karga asked confused. But suddenly, she pulled something out of her pocket. It was Din’s necklace. “When you get to mandalorians, give that to them, tell them, it’s from Din Djarin. They will help you. I’m going back, I just can’t leave him there. IG, you protect the child.” Cara stated and put the pendant around the kid’s neck, who gave her a puzzled gaze. Without any further word or protest from the others, she turned around and ran back to the cantina. 

Smoke already filled the floor and she had to use her torch to see. “Din?” she called but there was no response. Her heart started throbbing painfully. Quickly, she climbed through the whole and had to face that almost the whole cantina was on fire. “Din!” she screamed again and looked around. Then she saw him, limply leaning against the wall, his helmeted head tilted to his side. He didn't move. As fast as possible, she dodged the falling debris and leaped at him. 

The fire was closing around them, she had no time to check if he was still alive. Hectically, she grabbed his right arm and suddenly an agonized scream elicited from him. Now, she knew he was alive at least. “I won’t let you die here… “ she mumbled as she dragged him toward the exit, but his body was limp. It took a few minutes to drag him through the hole, but eventually both entered the sewers.

The mandalorian didn’t move at all, so she carefully began shaking him. “Hey, Mando. Wake up!” she said, trying to sound calm. But Din didn’t stir. With the torch between her teeth, she fumbled on his cowl to search for a pulse. The darkness made it hard for her to see anything without the light. But she had no time to drag him somewhere else now. After she worked herself through some layers of fabric, she finally reached his bare neck. But pushing her finger against it made her realize, his heart wasn’t beating anymore. “Damnit, Mando!” she screamed in horror and started fumbling on his chest plate to get it off. 

But eventually she found the clips and removed the beskar and the belt he wore across his shoulder. Without any hesitation, she started giving him chest compressions. “You won’t die here….” she mumbled under her breath, but she knew, he wouldn’t just start to breathe again with only CPR. Suddenly, she had an idea. Cara switched the lamp off so she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her eyes. She wouldn’t see his face if she removed his helmet either. So she did. With trembling hands, she reached for the cold steel on Din’s head and just pulled it off with one hand, while the other held his head. 

Carefully, she came closer to his face, searching blind for his nose and mouth. After a few adjustments, she finally was able to give him a few breaths, feeling the rise and fall of his chest with her hand. It worked. In the middle of the second unit of chest compressions, he finally drew in a breath. Quickly, she put the helmet back on its place and attached the beskar back on him. “Din are you with me?” she asked, but he was just panting. It was enough for her, knowing he was alive again. “Come on, let’s get you out of here” she said, grabbing his right arm again and pulling him up. She didn’t see it was his burnt side and he yelled in pain by the harsh movement. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” she mumbled and positioned herself on his other side. After she’d pulled him up, she wrapped his arm around her neck and pushed her hand on his chest to hold him steady. “Cara…” he whispered, but as he tried to take a deeper breath it resulted in a coughing fit. His lungs were severely harmed by the smoke and every breath was a task. “Easy, Din. I’ve got you.” she said softly, feeling his chest heaving under her hand. “Try to breathe slowly.” she said and tried to make him move forward. 

“Why did you come back? Where’s the child?” he asked weakly and suddenly stopped. “He’s alright, IG and Karga are with him. Come on let’s go.” she said sternly and tried to drag him with her. “Wait, turn around…. “ he gasped and she heard him gagging. Quickly, she covered her eyes with her arm, when he lifted his helmet to throw up. She heard him breathing heavily when he was finished. “Are you okay?” Cara asked cautiously and noticed him wavering. “Whoa, easy..” Cara caught him before he fell. “Sorry, I’m dizzy….” he mumbled and his sight almost blacked out again. “We’ll get you to a healer, you’ll be fine.”

Din didn’t respond, his mind was too foggy. Suddenly, they heard another footsteps echoing in the tunnel. “Who’s there?” Cara asked and drew her blaster, while holding Din with her other hand.

“Easy, Cara. It’s us!” Karga said and raised his hands. “We heard you two and decided to return. You clearly need help.” he said and looked at the mandalorian. IG-11 passed the kid to Greef and helped Cara with Din. Gently, it eased him to the ground. “I’m going to take a quick medscan, he’s clearly not in the shape to be dragged around” the droid stated and bent down to him. Now, Cara finally saw the burns on his side and back and she felt so sorry for causing him pain there earlier. “Yes, he needs some medical attention, or he’s not going to make it much longer.”

A few moments later, IG was finished and reported the bad results. “Okay, the most urgent wound to treat is his head wound, it’s an open skull fracture and needs instant medical attention. Furthermore he has third grade burns on his right side and back, his lungs are damaged by the smoke and heat. He’s in a really bad condition. But nevertheless, I need to treat his head wound or he’ll die within the next hour.” IG-11 said. 

“But you can’t take his helmet off, how are you supposed to get on his head?” Karga asked but IG cut his word. “I am not a living thing, Mandalorians are often treated by medical droids. I need you to turn around, while I’m trying to fix him. Sadly, I’m only equipped with bacta spray and one single shot of painkiller, but it has to be enough for now.” the droid stated with its mechanical voice. Cara and Karga turned around, but the child squealed when he lost sight of his protector. 

They heard IG putting the helmet on the ground and Din’s groans and gasps were much clearer to hear. “It’s alright, I’m treating your head wound with a bacta spray. Your skull fracture should be healed in a few hours. Your other wounds need to be treated as soon as you get to a medical facility, I can’t help you with that now, I’m sorry” the droid explained to Din. “O-Okay…. thank you” the mandalorian gasped and Cara was surprised how his voice sounded without the modulator of his helmet. “Alright, I’m now administering you a shot of painkiller. You’ll feel better in a few moments.”

Din watched a needle sticking out of his hand, slowly lowering to his neck. “Don’t look…” IG said and injected the medicine right into Din’s jugular vein. The mandalorian groaned but a few moments later, he felt his pain was getting easier. “That’s pretty good stuff…” he mumbled while he was putting his helmet back on. “Yes, but it won’t last for too long, let’s just get out of here before its effect wears off.” the droid said and helped Din on his feet. Karga and Cara turned around again and the soldier rushed to his side to support him walking again.

“This place is a maze.” she said after they were walking around for another fifteen minutes. Gradually, Din felt the effect from the bacta infusion. “Stopp, I can stand…. I’m going to find tracks” he said and went ahead. After a while, Mando recognized the surroundings and led them straight to the Covert. But he had to realize, it was abandoned. When they turned around the corner, a huge pile of mandalorian helmets and armor came to their sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, the dialog is not the same and I made it much shorter, but we all know what happened in the episode anyway 😛

Din slowly approached it and sank down on his knees, grabbing one of the helmets, studying it. Cara cautiously put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry… But we should go.” Din’s grip on the helmet tightened. “You go, take the ship. I can’t leave it like that.” he growled, got up and went straight to Greef Karga. “Did you know about this?” he asked and poked his finger in the other man’s chest. “No” the older man gasped, but suddenly, they were interrupted.

“It was not his fault. We revealed ourselves. We knew what could happen if we left the Covert. This is what resulted” the Armorer said, picking up pieces from the broken armor and putting it on her hovering chart. “Come with us.” Din said. “No, I will not leave this place.” said the Armorer and pushed her chart into the forge. The others followed. Din fell back, gradually he felt the effect from the painkiller fading and his burnt side stung painfully. But he tried to conceal it. He would not reveal any sign of pain in front of his tribe leader. 

Inside the forge, they watched the golden helmeted mandalorian putting the broken armor into the fire, piece by piece. “Show me the one, whose safety deemed such destruction.” she demanded and took a look at Mando. “It’s him” he replied and pointed to the little green creature in the brown bag around IG-11’s neck. “This is the one you hunted then saved? By the way, you should get checked out, your injury looks serious.” the Armorer said and pointed at Din’s bloody, burnt flesh. 

“I’m alright…” he muttered and tried to hide it but Cara stepped to his side. “No, you are not alright. In fact, you were dead for a few minutes. I brought you back.” she stated and grabbed Din’s arm as he started to lose his balance once again. “I did what?” the mandalorian asked in disbelief and pulled his arm from her grip. “We'll talk about this later, but we need to figure out an escape plan, this place will soon be lousy with imps” the soldier said, putting her hand on Din’s lower back to hold him steady again. 

The Armorer told them to follow the decent river to escape to the lava flats. While she was explaining, she forged something small in front of their eyes. “You go, I’m going to stay. I need to help her and I need to heal” Din mumbled, the pain was coming through his voice again. “No, you must go, a foundling is in your care. By creed, until it comes of age or is reunited with its own kind, you are as its father. You have earned your signet.” the Armorer determined and stepped to Mandos' right side. Carefully, she attached the signet on his shoulder pauldron, trying not to cause him any more pain, but now, she had a quite good sight of his injuries.

“You really should see a healer, this looks very serious. As a father of a foundling it’s also your task to make sure you are physically capable to protect him. I’m afraid I can’t provide you with any medical supply though.” the golden helmeted woman said, with a slight tone of concern in her voice, he has never heard from her before. “I have some supplies on my ship, I’ll be fine.” he mumbled. “Here, have you trained in the rising phoenix? This will make you complete.” the Armorer said and turned around with a brand new jetpack in her hands. “When I was a boy, yes.” Mando replied gratefully. The golden helmeted mandalorian turned to Karga and gave him the jetpack. “Would you mind carrying this for Din Djarin until he’s well enough to wear it?” she asked the older man and he agreed. “Have a safe journey.” the woman said then and the group made their way to the underground river. 

Cara soon noticed his movements were getting stiff and uncoordinated. As they walked, she heard him breathing heavily, like he would be running a marathon. When they arrived at the river, they found a small boat made of concrete, but it was jammed. Both, Din and Karga tried to break it free and Din accidentally came in contact with his wound. An agonized scream echoed from the walls and the mandalorian collapsed on the ground. The pain felt like numerous hot blades were digging deep into his side. 

“Shit” Cara cussed and went to his side, when she helped him sitting up again, the soldier noticed his flight suit was soaked with blood. “Din, we need to take a look at this as soon we reach the Razor Crest. You don’t want to get an infection, are you?” Cara asked him and comfortingly rubbed his arm. “No” he grunted and slowly rose to his feet again. “I’m sorry, I can’t give you more painkillers.” IG apologized. “It's alright, buddy.” Din reassured and stepped back as Cara shot at the edges to finally break the boat free. She helped Din climb inside and she was surprised, he actually accepted her helping hand. Another sign, he was feeling horrible. 

The boat moved on, driven by a droid with a paddle. Din groaned because the heat stung on his wound and made it hard for him to breathe. “Come, sit. You can barely stand” Cara said softly and pushed him down on the bench. With his elbows on his knees, he propped his throbbing head with his hands. The pain was getting more intense but he tried to hide it because he didn’t want to scare the kid and anyone to be worrying about him. But Cara noticed it anyway and sat beside him, gently rubbing his back. “Hey, you don’t need to hide your pain, please tell me how I can help you.” she asked and the black visor turned to her, watching her intensely. “Thank you, Cara.” he whispered and sighed, leaning into her touch. The former rebel soldier smiled, but suddenly Din got up, when the exit came in sight.

He pressed a few buttons on his vambrace to check the outsides and it was flanked with Storm Troppers. “Shit, it’s a trap.” he said, drawing his blaster, but he noticed, he was barely able to use his right arm without agonizing pain. So he took it in his left hand. “Din you can’t fight in your condition.” Cara said and tried to grab his blaster. “There’s no other way, we need to shoot our way out” he replied, but suddenly, IG spoke. “Take and protect this child. I’ll take care of the Troopers.” it said and handed the baby to Cara, who took him hesitantly. 

“No, IG we need you, you can’t sacrifice yourself.” Din called as the droid climbed out of the boat. “I’m going to serve my purpose, to nurse and protect. I nursed your wound and now, I’m going to protect you.” it said and walked through the lava towards the exit hole, where the droid initiated self destruct and killed the Troopers. “No!” Din yelled and another coughing fit swept over him. 

He braced himself against the boat railing while he was almost coughing his lungs out. “Easy, take slow and calm breaths” Cara said softly and patted his back. But suddenly Din noticed some small sprinkles of blood on the inside of his visor. “Shit…” he gasped and wiped it away with his fingers. Cara saw the blood on his fingertips and gave him another worried look. 

Gradually, they left the tunnel and slowly made their way across the lava flats. Suddenly, they heard a TIE fighter approaching them. “Gideon!” Cara screamed as he started firing at the group. “He missed us!” Karga said. “He won’t next time.” Din stated bitterly. Desperate, he looked around, he knew they had no chance against a TIE fighter with their blasters. But suddenly, he had an idea, a complete crazy idea. Quickly, Din grabbed his jetpack and attached it to his back. “Mando, no!” Cara screamed and tried to stop him. “It’s the only way.” he replied and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. She doubted that this plan would work and she had to watch how Mando ignited the jetpack and was thrusted into the air. 

He threw his grappling hook after the Gideon’s ship and managed to grab hold on one of its wings. After the first attempt failed, he managed to place a bomb in the second try. Gideon screamed as he realized what Din just did and tried to throw him off his ship. Mandos body slammed hard against the wing and the pain of his injured right side knocked him out, making him fall freely to the ground. Gideon's Tie fighter crashed down miles away from them, but other issues were now more important to them “Din, No!” Cara screamed and ran up to him, but shortly before he hit the ground, his fall suddenly slowed down. 

The soldier turned around and saw the baby focusing with one raised hand. “Oh Kid… “ she sighed in relief as Din’s body softly touched the ground in front of them. Cara gently pulled him up and cradled his torso in her arms, trying to wake him up. With shaky hands, she searched for a pulse and luckily found it weak and fast. Relieved she put her palm on his chest plate, feeling him breathing was now the most important thing to her. 

"Is he alright?“ Karga asked and put the baby to the ground."He's alive, but he needs medical care now. We need to get him back to the Razor Crest." she said and looked up to Karga, who nodded confirming. "Okay, let's go." Both pulled the unconscious mandalorian up, trying to hold him in between them but carefully trying to avoid his wounds. It was a painstakingly slow process but after a few hours they made their way back to the ship. 

A few taps on Din's vambrace and the ramp lowered down. Cara told Karga to hold Mando while she was preparing a cot for him, since his bunk was built into the wall, they couldn't put him there. When she was finished, they carefully eased him down on his left side. "I need you to look for his medical supplies, I think he keeps them in the bathroom." the former shock trooper said and looked up to Karga, who was putting the kid into his pram again. 

Some sad eyes were watching Cara from over there. "Don't worry, little one. He'll be fine." she tried to reassure him, while she removed the beskar from Din's prone body. She noticed he struggled to breathe sometimes. After she had removed his armor, she wiped some beads of sweat off her brow. Constantly Cara checked his condition, but his breathing worried her the most.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here goes the Fluff 😁

“That’s all I’ve found, it seems he needed to restock his supply.” Karga said as he returned with only a few things in his hand. He spread them in front of Cara, who took a curious look at the supplies. She sighed, there was not even a minimum she would need to treat his wounds properly. The soldier searched through the small amount of bandages, bacta patches and only one shot of a low dosed painkiller. Quickly, she grabbed the syringe and injected it into Din’s arm. 

“Greef, I need you to get more supplies. I can give you a list, what I need. Or do you know a good healer here on Nevarro?” she asked and looked at the older man. Sadly, he shook his head. “There once was a healer for Guild members, but he was killed by the imps. He was a good man, saved many lives. But I know, where he kept his supplies stored, I’m sure, there is plenty of stuff we can use.” he told Cara, while his gaze went over Din’s shivering form. 

Cara gave him a list, what she needed and he made his way back to the town. She knew it would take several hours for him to return. But now, Din required her full attention. Cautiously, she started to get rid of his shirt, but she soon had to acknowledge, the fabric almost had molten into his burn wounds. Everytime, she carefully tried to peel it off, Din gasped in pain and withred on the cot. “I’m sorry, but I need to remove it.” she said softly, gently rubbing his arm. 

“G-Give me another shot. I-I have some painkillers in my medkit.” he gasped and held her hand, preventing her from touching his wound again. Under normal circumstances his pain tolerance was very high, but now, he felt his body crossed the limit. “Din, there’s no shot left, I know, it isn't as strong enough to make you feel more comfortable.” Cara said and slowly pulled her hand from his grip. She got up and fetched a bucket of cold water, scissors and a cloth. Carefully, she cut his shirt away only leaving the pieces, which stuck to his wounds. Now she had better access to treat him. 

“Please, I want to wait for Karga to return, he’s getting painkillers.” Din gasped and grabbed Caras hand again. “No, I need to clean that now, you’ve got quite a lot of dirt in the wound and the edges are already red and swollen. You’re gonna get a major infection.” Cara said and carefully dabbed the wound with the cold water, hoping it would bring at least some relief for him. He curled to his side again, breathing heavily, at least he tried. 

“You need to calm down, try to sit up, It’ll help you with your breathing.” Cara suggested and helped him up. It worked. Cara continued cleaning his wounds and felt sorry for every gasp he made because of her. Din bit his lip underneath his helmet, trying to suppress his pain, he tried to focus on something to distract himself, but his gaze stopped at the childs pram. “The kid, is he alright?” he asked Cara. “Yes, he’s just fine. He is very worried about you.” she replied and got up. Din watched her fetching the kid and he let out a louder groan of pain, he’d kept from Cara. The rebel shock trooper put the kid on Din’s lap and positioned herself on his back again to continue peeling the pieces of fabric from the burnt flesh. 

Secretly, she hoped he would get a little distracted by the foundling, so he wouldn’t be focused so intensely on the pain. “Hey there, little one…” Din said softly and fondled the child’s floppy ears. The Mandalorian noticed, he looked a little tired. “Did he use his powers?” he asked and turned his head to Cara. “Well, kind of. You were in free fall, when you took down Gideon’s TIE fighter, the kid buffered your impact, you’d be dead without him.” she explained and felt he was tensing up.“I don’t remember anything from the fall,” he said and gently patted the kids fuzzy head. 

Din never wanted the child to use his powers to save him.“Hey, don’t worry, he’s alright. It was the second time today, you almost died. The first time, you were dead and I don’t want to be in such a situation ever again.” Cara said, before Mando was able to complain. Din remembered her mentioning his death earlier in the forge. “Can you please tell me what happened?” “Well, I went back to the cantina and I found you lying there between burning debris. You were alive, when I pulled you up, because you screamed, when I accidentally touched your wound, sorry for that by the way. But when we entered the sewer, I checked on you again and your heart had stopped beating. I started with chest compressions, but I couldn’t make you breathe again, so I….”she hesitated telling him the rest of the story, but she didn’t want to lie to him.

“So, you did what?” he asked suspiciously, feeling rage rising inside of him. “Alright, it was dark and I couldn’t see anything. I switched off my torch and removed your helmet to give you blind mouth to mouth…” she mumbled and Din got up suddenly almost throwing the kid off his lap.

“You had no right to do this!” he yelled and stepped away from her. “Hey, I didn’t see anything, I swear on my parents grave! I had to do this to save your damn life!” she spat but suddenly noticed, he was losing his balance again. Heavily breathing, he braced himself on the wall. “Why couldn’t you just let me die?” he rasped exhausted. Cara felt her stomach drop. “Because you are important to me and I care about you and would you have let me die if I were in your place?” she promptly replied.“No… I wouldn’t. I’d do anything to save you…” he whispered and his answer gave her chills. 

“Come on, you need to relax or you’re gonna hyperventilate…” Cara said, trying to change the subject and helped him sit down again. The child gave him a worried look and cooed. When Din was sitting again, he snuggled his cheek on his stomach, his little arms trying to wrap around his middle as an attempt to hug him. “See, you need to stay alive, for him.” Cara said and continued her work. Mando felt the warmth of the kid’s body snuggling against him and it was actually calming him a bit. Gently, he started rubbing the child's back and received some small cooes. 

“Alright, that’s the last piece of fabric.” Cara said, as she peeled a quite large bloody tissue from his skin. Din arched his back in pain and held the kid closer to his body. He felt the little one was patting his belly, trying to give more comfort. “Thanks, kid….” he gasped and he felt finally a bit relieved, when Cara rinsed the wound with the cold water. Din felt tired as the adrenaline rush eventually subsided. But the pain was getting more intense again. “Hey, could you do me a favor and lie down for a moment? I need to check you for any other injuries.” Cara said as she noticed the bruising on torso and helped him lying flat on the cot. But he instantly had some trouble breathing again. 

“Shouldn’t I be noticing any more injuries?” he asked and felt her touching his neck, checking his cervical spine. “You slammed pretty hard against that TIE fighter, your body is distressed, it's possible you might not feel any new pain. I had a comrade once, he said he was okay, but he died minutes later. A harsh movement drilled a fractured bone into his lung. He didn’t feel anything at first too. I’m just cautious.” she explained and continued looking for bone fractures. Gently she palpated his collar bones, ribs, and shoulders. Anything that could harm an essential organ. When she was finished she helped him to sit up again, her hands running down his spine to check if everythings okay there too. 

Din was glad to sit again, so he could breathe easier. He felt tired and exhausted, almost not longer being able to sit upright and he unintentionally leaned back on Cara. “Sorry…” he mumbled and straightened himself again, but suddenly, the rebel shock trooper, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him back. “It’s okay… “ she whispered and felt him leaning into her touch again. Cara put her chin on his shoulder and leaned her head against his helmet. The kid also snuggled closer and promptly fell asleep on Din’s belly. At first Mando felt a little odd but soon he noticed getting calmer and more comfortable in Caras embrace. “Try to sleep a bit.” he heard her whispering, while her fingertips gently ran up and down on his sternum. "Thank you…. for helping me…." he whispered before he genuinely fell asleep in her strong arms. Cara smiled and placed a kiss on his helmet where his cheek would be. "Anything for you, my dear…" she whispered…


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, yay. I know, I have to update my other story too, but I'm currently stuck with playing Among Us XD. But I'm working on it.

They remained like this for a while. Cara felt Din’s breathing got more calm and less shallow. She didn’t know what to do about his lung issue, but until he was breathing slowly and carefully, it seemed to be okay. Soon he was fast asleep and Cara heard some quiet snores from underneath his helmet. But still she held him and she wished to never let him go again. The few hours of fear and losing her best friend ignited some other feelings in her. And the fact, he actually trusted her enough to let her treat his wounds and to actually sleep in her arms, confirmed for her that he might has gotten more attached to her too. 

But now, she had other issues to worry about. Gently, Cara eased him on his back after a while and put some pillows under his back, so he won’t lie directly on his wounded side. The kid still slept too, so he put him right beside Din, but after a few minutes, Cara watched the little one instinctively snuggling up to the mandalorians chest. A warm smile spread on her face, when she watched this pure moment. 

She busied herself with cleaning up all the bloody clothes and stains they made, but suddenly, she heard something approaching the Razor Crest. Quickly, Cara drew her blaster and waited hidden on the entrance. But soon, she realized it was Karga returning on a speeder bike. Her heart made a joyful jump and she hoped that he was able to acquire appropriate medication for Din. She went towards the older man but she couldn’t see any bag or something he would keep the supplies in. “Greef, did you find something?” she asked but Karga just looked sadly to the ground.

“I’m afraid to say that the imps looted the whole storage, there was nothing left except for a few plasters. So I tried to catch any Guild members, who were still on Nevarro to ask them for medication and supplies. That are the only few items I’ve managed to collect.” he said bitterly and reached inside his pockets. Cara sighed by the sight of two painkiller shots and a very small vial of bacta. That wouldn’t even be nearly the amount she’d required. But for now, it had to be enough. “Thank you, that's at least something we can use.” the rebel shock trooper said gratefully. 

“How is he?” Greef asked, worried about his best Guild hunter. “He fell asleep after I cleaned the wound. But the wound already showed signs of infection and I hoped you might bring some antibiotics. And his breathing is still an issue. I suppose his lungs are irritated by the smoke and heat from the fire.” she explained, while both made their way inside the Crest. “I’m sorry, I was not able to find more stuff, I literally turned the whole city upside down.” Greef said and felt guilty, despite his efforts. Both looked at the sleeping form on the ground, while Cara tried to think of what she else could do to help him. 

The sun was going down, when Karga decided to head back to Nevarro. “If I can get a hand on anything, that might be useful, I’m gonna be right here. If you need further assistance you know how to contact me.” he said and mountened his bike. Cara gave him a nod and returned to Din’s side when the Guild leader was out of sight. The mandalorian was still fast asleep and Cara pulled the blanket up to his neck, noticing, he had goosebumps all over his arm. “He’s freezing” she mumbled to herself and fetched another blanket to cover him with. 

With a loud yawn, the child awoke, while she was tugging the blanket under Din’s body. He blinked away his sleepiness and smiled widely at Cara. Although the rebel shock trooper never had a thing for babies, she kind of fell for this little fellow. Maybe because he doesn't act like a human toddler, saves lives and heals wounds. The child reached his arms for her and she picked him up. “Your dad isn’t feeling so well.” she explained to him and he lowered his big ears, like he understood every word she told him. 

Suddenly she heard the kid’s stomach growling and he looked at her with big eyes. “Oh, you're hungry, right? Let’s see what Mando has in store for you”. Cara mumbled and started searching for food and luckily found a drawer, where Din kept a few cans with convenience food. The rebel shock trooper started preparing dinner for the kid and herself, noticing that Din began stirring in his sleep. But he just turned on his back and with a low groan, he was in deep slumber again. At first, Cara was worried about him lying on his injured back, but if it didn’t cause him pain, it would be okay she thought. 

While they were having dinner, Cara and the kid really connected to each other. Sometimes the kid offered her his spoon to try his food and she did in return. They had a good time, but the worries about mando came back as soon as they took a glance at him. Later on, the kid’s stomach was almost bursting and he literally fell into a food coma. Cara was getting tired too, got rid of her armor plates and put the little one into his pram before she checked on Din’s condition. 

At first everything looked good to her except the fact he was shivering. She sat down beside him, lifted his blanket and put her palm on his chest. She gasped when she felt he was burning up. “Shit” she cussed and carefully turned him to his side to take a look at his wound. And then she noticed, his condition was quite serious. The edges around the wound were red and swollen and it has started to purulent in some places. “Din, wake up!” she called and carefully shook him. But the mandalorian didn’t stir. Actually now she noticed his shallow breathing again. Cara pushed her fingers on his neck to find his pulse rapid and throbbing. The rebel shock trooper rushed to the bathroom to fetch water and a cloth to clean the wound once again. But as soon as the fabric came in contact with his flesh, Din almost yelled in pain. 

“Shh, it’s okay. I need to clean your wound again. It has gotten infected and you are suffering from a high fever.” Cara explained as soon as his consciousness came back to reality. “It feels like I’m burning alive.” he whispered and tried to take a deep breath, which almost ended in a coughing fit. “Din, I only have two shots of painkillers and a small amount of bacta. Greef searched the whole city for medication, but the imps took everything.” the shock trooper explained and gently rubbed his arm as she noticed his struggle. “Then spare it for later, I think I can handle it for now.” the mandalorian mumbled since the pain was numbing his mind again. 

“Tell me, when it’s getting too much for you.” she said and gave him a worried look as he winced under her touch. Carefully, she began cleaning the edges but she started to realize she might have to cut away the infected tissue. Din gritted his teeth and clutched his blanket so hard, his knuckles turned white. Cara tried to be as quick as possible, but not without giving him a reassuring pat on his shoulder in between. Ten minutes later, she realized he couldn’t take the pain much longer and injected him the first shot. Din relaxed a bit as the medicine kicked in. Heavily breathing, he laid on his side and sweat started rolling down on his face. 

Cara noticed his breathing was getting shallow again not only through his lung issue but also through his tensed muscles. She felt so sorry for hurting him but she had no choice. The former shock trooper knew he also could get a sepsis if she wouldn’t treat him now. Cara suggested him to sit up to improve his breathing situation, but his circulation didn’t tolerate any other position. Din instantly got dizzy when he tried, so he remained on his side. Another ten minutes later, they were finished and fortunately Cara was not forced to cut any infected tissue away. After she applied the only vial of bacta she had, she hoped it would be enough for him to heal now. 

Panting, Din rolled on his back again, the fever was still plaquing him and his head was almost cooking underneath his helmet. Cara sat beside him, put her  
palm on his chest rubbing back and forth with her thumb. She felt his heart throbbing against her palm and she was getting worried about its pace. “I wish I could do more for you. I’m so sorry” she said honestly and pulled her hand away. Suddenly, Din grabbed her hand and put it back on his chest with his hand over hers. “I would be dead without you. I can’t describe how grateful I am to have you at my side.” he whispered and tightened his grip on her hand. 

“Shhh, it's okay. I was so afraid to lose you. Since my parents died on Alderaan, you and the child are the only family I have now.” she said and felt her eyes tearing up a bit, she bent over him and kissed his helmet where his temples would be. Din swallowed thickly, almost no longer able to contain his emotions. “I’d really appreciate you becoming part of our clan. We are family, this is the way.” Din mumbled weakly, feeling his consciousness slipping again. His head started to feel foggy by the heat underneath his helmet, so he made a decision.

“Cara, can you help me take it off? My helmet…..” he mumbled and Cara was taken aback. “Din are you sure? You told me you’d never be able to put it on again.” she asked, considering that might be a fever induced decision. “We can remove our helmets around our closest family members. And I consider you to be part of it.” he panted and watched another tear forming in her eyes. Just now, he realized how beautiful her eyes were and he wanted to see them with his own, not through a visor. Din never wanted to be too attached to someone else. But the way Cara cared about him, the way she touched him made him reconsider his decision. The last few hours made him realize he was more attached to her, than he thought and he really wanted her to see his face.

Din gave her a weak nod as her hands grabbed the edges of his helmet. Cara felt her heart was racing, because this moment was so intimate to her as well. Slowly she pulled it off with one hand, while she held his head with her other, because he was too weak to lift his head. After she put it aside, she smiled at him. Although he looked deathly sick and still caked with the blood from his head wound, he was very attractive to her. “Hey…” she whispered, smiling and cupped his stubbly cheek. “Hey…” he rasped back, almost starting to cough again. “It’s a shame you’ve hidden yourself under that bucket with your looks” she joked and elicited a weak chuckle from him. 

Cara just had the urge to hold him, just to be close to him. The way he looked at her, made her heart throbbing with joy. But suddenly he scrunched his eyes and let out a small moan, when she ran her hand through his dark wavy hair. She quickly realized he had a life-threatening head wound there, which was treated with bacta, but not completely healed. Even bacta needs some time to cure bone fractures. Din watched her reaching to his other side, grabbing the bucket of water and the cloth. Cautiously she tried to get rid of all the clotted blood, but in the end, she had no choice but to rinse his hair. 

After she was finished, she fetched some fresh water and got him a cup with some tea, she had made for the kid and herself earlier. Carefully, she helped him to sit up a bit to take a sip from the tea, but since he was pretty dehydrated from the fever, he gulped down the whole cup.  
Exhausted, Din laid back again. Even the slightest movement seemed to drain him. Fortunately, Cara could tell, his fever was not getting any higher, so she was optimistic. She grabbed the cloth and dabbed his feverish face and chest with it, trying to cool him a little. Mando felt himself getting very sleepy, everything she did to tend him was making him feel more comfortable. When she put the bucket aside, Cara let out a loud yawn. Din secretly hoped she would stay with him through the night. And she promptly got up, fetched another pillow and placed it right beside him. 

Cara laid down, leaning her head against his. “Thank you for caring for me.. “ Din whispered sleepy and felt her hand on his cheek again. The mandalorian closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Cara suddenly moved closer and placed a kiss on his lips. Actually he wasn’t surprised because he wished for that to happen. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, both faces were plastered with a smile. “I think, you’re going to need a bigger bunk now, or will you keep sleeping on the floor from now on.” she whispered with a chuckle. Suddenly, he was pulling her closer so she could rest her head on his chest. “We’ll find a way…” he mumbled and wrapped his arms around her. They remained cuddling for a while until they heard a low coo from the kid’s pram. 

But before anyone of them was able to get up, the child appeared in front of them, tilting his head while he looked at them. “Come here…” Cara said and picked him up and placed him between herself and Din. He spread his arms and pulled both of them closer. “Good night, Mudhorn Clan.” the mandalorian whispered and fell asleep.


End file.
